Olympic Basketball 2012 Results: Team USA Beats France 86-50 in Gold-Medal Game

Team USA won its fifth straight gold medal in women's basketball with an 86-50 win over France in the gold-medal match of the London 2012 Olympic Games. 

This performance ended a flawless trip to London for the American women, and it continues a stretch of dominance that is jaw-dropping. 

The U.S. won all eight of its games in London by at least 13 points—seven of the eight were by more than 20. These kind of lopsided results are not surprising, nor are they anything new. The American women have now won 41 straight Olympic contests. 

While this game ended as reasonable expectations projected, it didn't start out that way. 

The U.S. women were uncharacteristically a little sloppy in the first half. They were having a hard time getting into their offense, and they shot just 39.5 percent from the floor. However, their full-court press gave France fits and sparked some easy buckets for the U.S. 

Candace Parker also gave France fits. She was huge for her team in the first half. She came off the bench to add 15 first-half points; no other American had more than five at the half. She was the only American who made more than one field goal in the first half, as she went 7-of-9.

Parker wasn't just scoring, either. Her nine first-half rebounds led the way for the U.S., and it was only seven fewer than the total the French mustered as a team for the entire half. 

Being able to weather that relatively poor first half with a 12-point lead was more than enough to spark Team USA to a big second half.

Just a few minutes into the third, the U.S. began to pull away.

As they have done so many times before for the national team, guards Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, each of whom won her third gold with this victory, began creating and making good shots. The U.S. won the third, 26-12, and reduced the fourth quarter to a victory lap.   

The U.S. women's basketball team is the surest bet in sports, and they now are decorated in gold to show for it.